The collection and transportation of trash and recyclables from commercial, industrial and large residential facilities is a major industry in the United States and throughout the world. Typically, trash and recyclables are accumulated and temporarily stored in waste material containers, such as dumpsters and balers. When filled, or at regularly scheduled intervals, trash and recyclables from the containers are transported for the eventual recycling, incineration and/or disposal into landfills.
Customers typically pay for trash and recyclables removal services based on the amount of trash and recyclables removed and the number of trash and recyclables pickups over a period of time. The compacting of trash and recyclables at a customers's location typically reduces the number of pickups. A successful trash and recyclables compactor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,406, titled Trash Compactor and owned by Advanced Custom Engineered Systems & Equipment, Inc., Carol Stream, Ill., assignee of the present invention.
These industrial, commercial and large residential bins and compactors are collected from different locations and hauled to a central location. Normally, those hauling the trash and recyclables are sent from a central location and dispatched to the different locations. In practice, paper logs or schedules document the hauler's runs (e.g., trash and recyclables to pick-up, trash and recyclables being picked-up, and trash and recyclables picked-up). The haulers are given their routes in person or over the phone. The haulers, in turn, keep in touch with the central location generally by cell phone or radio.
For large organizations this can be a very complicated task as there are many haulers and many customers needing their trash and recyclables collected, picked-up and hauled away. In addition, commercial, industrial and large residential (e.g., condos and apartment buildings) trash and recyclables compactors and balers must be monitored for maintenance and repair. This, too, requires time and energy for the haulers and/or representatives (of the service provider) to monitor and inspect.
For large organizations this can be a very complicated to coordinate. It can also be complicated to verify the charges for these services are fair and accurate, as there are many service providers and many customers needing their compactors, bins and balers repaired.
In addition, it must be recognized that trash and recyclables compactors, balers and bins must further be monitored for maintenance and repair.
Further, RFID tags, and other similar tags, are used to identify products, packaging and pallets. They can be used for monitoring the flow of inventory into and through a facility. However, it is believed no one successfully monitors such tags as they leave a facility. Important information can be gained by doing this.
Accordingly, there is a need for better data collection and scheduling and monitoring capabilities associated with trash and recyclables.